Philosophy, Universals, Empowerment

Insofar as Language is Descriptive, it functions primarily to convey Knowledge.  Likewise, insofar as the Language of Philosophy is Descriptive and Universalistic, its primary function is to serve as a source of Enlightenment.  Correspondingly, its Language as Legislative expresses a transformation of the function of Philosophy to that of Empowerment, though even the staunchest advocates of that metamorphosis have not quite formulated it as such.  For example, in his promotion of the concept of the Philosopher as a creator of Values, Nietzsche seems unable to decide whether Will to Power is a principle of Empowerment, or of Overpowering, as has been previously discussed here.  Marx' Language certainly aims at Empowerment, though, in the absence of a post-revolution concept of Philosophy, the extent of its generalization is unclear.  While, as has been discussed, Kant's Rational Principle can be interpreted as a Practical Principle of Sufficient Reason, his continued privileging of Consistency indicates a hesitation to whole-heartedly recognize it as source of Empowerment.  Also, though Pragmatists re-formulate Universal Propositions as operational Hypotheses, if they re-conceive the function of Philosophy analogously, they do not make it explicit.  But, perhaps, the best example of this ambivalence is Mill's Utilitarianism--while his Greatest Happiness formula can function as a Practical Principle of Sufficient Reason, i. e. it provides in every instance a procedure for deciding between acting and not acting, he insists that it is a 'Descriptive' Principle.